Kathy here again: The road East is long and boring. There is just no way around it. But J and K have ways of staying amused in the mind numbing conditions.
For starters, we get off the freeway whenever possible. Also, we like to stop and eat lunch out of the car and walk around. And we take turns playing music. The passenger is in charge of the music, but the driver does have veto power. So far there have been no vetos. We have Sirius radio and have enjoyed listening to old time radio shows like 'Dragnet' and 'Our Miss Brooks'. Today we heard a show based on a movie script called "The Westerners" with Gary Cooper and Walter Brennen. Very entertaining. We also like the comedy channels. We are trying to stay hydrated and eat healthful snacks.
On Sunday, after breakfast we drove down I-80, but decided that, instead of going south to Salt Lake City, only to go north again to Laramie, we would detour over the mountains on Highway 30. This worked out great. It may not have saved us much time or mileage, but it was more scenic. We stopped for lunch at a lake on the Oregon Trail in Idaho.
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| All about the wagon ruts you could see near the lake |
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| Nice view |
We were pretty tired by the time we got to I-80 again, so we decided to call ahead (you can't say we don't learn from our mistakes) and I insisted we upgrade our hotel choice and booked a Hampton Inn in Rawlins, Wyoming. We had comfort food at a local diner and gratefully slept like the dead!
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| Sunset in Rawlins WY |
On Monday we completed passing through Wyoming and really hit the plains in Nebraska. You might think the plains are flat, but they actually are rolling hills. But still boring. We drove the whole length of Nebraska and again reserved a hotel in advance in Counsel Bluffs, Iowa. The college world series was being played in Omaha, and we were lucky to get a room. Before we got to the hotel though, Jeff found us an Italian restaurant in Omaha that had amazing food. A long drive for a good reward.
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| Nebraskaland |
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| My duties.....Jeff fills and I wash the windshield |
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| We don't know what it was but it caught our attention. |
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| Our delicious Italian meal |
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The next day, Tuesday we had to decide if we wanted to try to go all the way to Rochester Hills, or divide the distance into two days. We wisely decided that two shorter days would be best. We reserved a Hampton in Portage Indiana, just south of Chicago. But meanwhile, there was a lot of Iowa and Illinois to see.
When we arrived in Portage just after 6 pm, we were ready for a swim and a hot shower and a nice dinner. We got the first two, but our dinner at a local sports bar was disappointing. Or maybe it was the performance of Jeff's Cavs that was disappointing. At any rate, we were glad to go back to the hotel and tuck in for the night. Tomorrow, we go to Dennis and Laurie's in Rochester Hills, Michigan!
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| Miles of corn |
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| So many bugs sacrificed to our journey |
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| Lunch at a rest stop in Iowa....they even have wifi |
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| About to cross the Mississippi |
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| Old Man River |
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| For sale in a truck stop.....would a trucker really buy this?? |
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| The oasis of the Hampton....love that hotel chain |
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| Ahhhhhh, water! |
